IRRESPONSIBLE remarks of people in position do not pass even as bad jokes. Such comments, rather, reflect the cancel culture that the authorities appear to entertain themselves with. The foreign minister’s remark that people of Bangladesh are living in a ‘paradise’ in comparison with people of other countries amidst a global recession is one such irresponsible comment that appears an insult to the hundreds of thousands of people who struggle hard to make the ends meet amidst a record inflation, especially food inflation. The finance minister is, however, not alone in making such irresponsible comments. His colleagues earlier came up with similar — and in cases, more — insulting comments. The planning minister in commenting on the hardship that people undergo because of food price increase, said that none had died yet and the local government, rural development and cooperatives minister said that none was starving or without clothes. When the recent record increase in prices of fuel oils have impacted the life and livelihoods of the poor and fixed-income people severely and when it has worsened the already alarming food inflation, such comments by people in position are unacceptable.

The comments are unacceptable not because they are untrue, which they are certainly not, but because they betray the cancel culture that the authorities stick to. Such comments also came aplenty at the peak of the Covid outbreak, when people found it hard to keep up with a fast volatile market. Prices of goods increased, keeping to different estimates, by 20–80 per cent and tens of thousands of people, many of whom either lost their job or experienced a significant reduction in their income, were faced with difficulty in ensuring basic necessities and the government also came up with different packages and programmes, inadequate though, to support the poor and the struggling businesses. Since then, prices of essential commodities have remained high, even though the government promised time and again to keep the market stable. With the recent increase in fuel oil prices — the government increased prices of diesel, kerosene, petrol and octane by 42.5–51.6 per cent on August 5 — prices of almost all essential goods have sharply increased. Moreover, being forced into austerity measures, people and industries have also faced severe power cuts. In such circumstances, irresponsible comments made by the ministers suggest a worrying indifference of the authorities towards people’s misery.

The authorities must, therefore, stop making irresponsible comments and recognise the plight the people have fallen into. The authorities must also understand that comparing Bangladesh with other hard-hit countries will not resolve the problem; and, the economic crisis that has befallen many countries during the Covid pandemic and in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war has been tackled differently, keeping to successes of policies taken and implemented by governments. The authorities must make the market stable and take pro-people policies to help people survive the crisis.